Adjacent Words

Sever definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SEV'ER, v.t. [There may be a doubt whether sever is derived from the Latin separo. Heb. Ch. Syr. Ar. to break.]
1. To part or divide by violence; to separate by parting or rending; as, to sever the body or the arm at a single stroke.
2. To part from the rest by violence; as, to sever the head from the body.
3. To separate; to disjoin; as distinct things, but united; as the dearest friends severed by cruel necessity.
4. To separate and put in different places or orders.
The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just.
Matthew 13.
5. To disjoin; to disunite; in a general sense, but usually applying violence.
6. To keep distinct or apart.
7. In law, to disunite; to disconnect; to part possession; as, to sever a state in joint-tenacy.
SEV'ER, v.i.
1. To make a separation or distinction; to distinguish.
The Lord will sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt.
Exodus 9.
2. To suffer disjunction; to be parted or rent assunder.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: set or keep apart; "sever a relationship" [syn: sever, break up]
2: cut off from a whole; "His head was severed from his body"; "The soul discerped from the body" [syn: discerp, sever, lop]

Merriam Webster's

verb (severed; severing) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French severer, from Latin separare — more at separate Date: 14th century transitive verb to put or keep apart ; divide; especially to remove (as a part) by or as if by cutting intransitive verb to become separated Synonyms: see separate

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. & intr. (often foll. by from) divide, break, or make separate, esp. by cutting. 2 tr. & intr. break off or away; separate, part, divide (severed our friendship). 3 tr. end the employment contract of (a person). Derivatives: severable adj. Etymology: ME f. AF severer, OF sevrer ult. f. L separare SEPARATE v.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sever Sev"er, v. t. [imp. &. p. p. Severed; p. pr. & vb. n. Severing.] [OF. sevrer, severer, to separate, F. sevrer to wean, fr. L. separare. See Separate, and cf. Several.] 1. To separate, as one from another; to cut off from something; to divide; to part in any way, especially by violence, as by cutting, rending, etc.; as, to sever the head from the body. The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just. --Matt. xiii. 49. 2. To cut or break open or apart; to divide into parts; to cut through; to disjoin; as, to sever the arm or leg. Our state can not be severed; we are one. --Milton. 3. To keep distinct or apart; to except; to exempt. I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there. --Ex. viii. 22. 4. (Law) To disunite; to disconnect; to terminate; as, to sever an estate in joint tenancy. --Blackstone.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sever Sev"er, v. i. 1. To suffer disjunction; to be parted, or rent asunder; to be separated; to part; to separate. --Shak. 2. To make a separation or distinction; to distinguish. The Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt. --Ex. ix. 4. They claimed the right of severing in their challenge. --Macaulay.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(severs, severing, severed) 1. To sever something means to cut completely through it or to cut it completely off. (FORMAL) Richardson severed his right foot in a motorbike accident. ...oil still gushing from a severed fuel line. VERB: V n, V-ed 2. If you sever a relationship or connection that you have with someone, you end it suddenly and completely. (FORMAL) She severed her ties with England... VERB: V n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sev'-er: The three Hebrew words badhal, palah and paradh are thus translated. The idea conveyed is that of setting apart (Le 20:26 the King James Version) or of setting someone or something apart in a miraculous way (Ex 8:22; 9:4 the King James Version, the English Revised Version), or, again, of simple separation on one's own volition (Jud 4:11 the King James Version, the English Revised Version). The Greek word aphorizo (Mt 13:49) stands for final judicial segregation.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Part, divide, separate, sunder. 2. Disjoin, disunite, sunder, separate, divide. 3. Disjoin, disunite, detach, detach, separate, divide, disconnect.

Moby Thesaurus

abandon, amputate, analyze, anatomize, atomize, ax, bisect, bob, break off, break up, butcher, carve, cease, change, chop, chop logic, cleave, contradistinguish, cut, cut away, cut in two, cut off, demarcate, demark, desynonymize, detach, dichotomize, difference, differentiate, discern, disconnect, discontinue, discriminate, disequalize, disjoin, disjoint, dissect, dissever, dissolve, distinguish, disunite, diversify, divide, divorce, dock, draw the line, end, excise, extricate, fissure, gash, hack, halve, hew, incise, individualize, individuate, jigsaw, lance, make a distinction, mark, mark off, mark out, mark the interface, modify, pare, part, particularize, personalize, pick out, prune, refine a distinction, rend, rive, saw, scissor, screen, screen out, segregate, select, separate, set a limit, set apart, set off, severalize, sieve, sieve out, sift, sift out, slash, slice, slit, snip, sort, sort out, specialize, split, split hairs, stop, subdivide, subtilize, sunder, suspend, tear, terminate, vary, whittle, winnow